Partners and
Volunteers from the “VOICE Mid Galloway” project have been celebrating their
achievements during National Volunteers Week at the end of an extremely
productive and successful year. The Project was launched in June last year,
funded by the Volunteer Action Fund Scotland
Other
partners from a wide range of agencies and service providers were invited to
the initial launch to raise awareness of the project and identify further
opportunities for joint working.
In addition
to the existing 30 volunteers who were initially signed up to the project, a
further 107 volunteers – individuals, members of community groups and
organisations - have benefited from a wide range of training opportunities.
Volunteers
were then supported to utilise their newly found skills on a range of local and
community opportunities. Training was sourced and held locally.
One of the
trainers said: “I have been privileged to
have been involved with the Voice Mid Galloway
Project. Local volunteers were invited to participate in funded courses,
involving inclusion, team involvement, support, and received recognition with a
fully recognised accredited certificate, gained by their own merits. The Voice
has certainly raised the bar in showcasing that volunteers are committed, hard
working and dedicated to their cause!”
Nathalie
Guillaume, Community Health Development Worker said: “We have established through the project that volunteers are currently
contributing over 330 volunteer hours on a weekly basis - given ever increasing
funding constraints on agencies and service providers and the launch of the new
Health & Social Care agenda, this is an integral part of establishing and
building on resilience in local communities. These volunteers are running
groups and clubs and are providing services that would otherwise not happen –
we feel it is imperative that these volunteers are supported, recognised and
their achievements celebrated”.
A member of
the local Community Resilience Team said: “We cannot
offer our services in the community unless our volunteers are fully trained in
areas including Food Hygiene & First Aid, so being able to access this
training for free makes a huge difference to us. Our
thanks to the project for offering such a valuable service to the voluntary
sector.”
Sue
Reedman – Chair of the local Partnership said: “The
partnership are delighted to have been involved in the development of the project –
it has made such a difference to a whole range of individuals and community
groups who have been able to access specific training required free of charge, which they would otherwise have been unable to do. We are currently working to
identify further funds to continue to build on the success of the project.”
